Crippled Body, Treasured Soul
by Butterfly Hippie
Summary: When a girl with cerebral palsy comes to Stephanie's school, will Stephanie and her classmates accept who she is as a person? Or will they shun her because she is handicapped? CHAPTER 6 UPLOADED! THIS IS MY FIRST FANFI
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Stephanie Tanner hugged her father goodbye. "Bye, Dad, see you later." She hopped into the car and it dropped her off at the local middle school, where she was in eighth grade. After a bit of laughing and chatting with her friends, the bell rang and she went to her first class, which was English.

After her teacher finally calmed everyone down, she said "Class, we have a new student! Please welcome Melanie Finegold." A girl that Stephanie had not noticed before stepped forward. She looked basically like a regular girl: Short brownish hair, pulled back into a ponytail, hazel eyes, a very skinny body. Stephanie's eyes traveled over the girl and came to rest on a strange object the girl was leaning on.

It was slender, with Melanie's hand holding a handle about ¾ of the way up the object. Above that was a plastic circle that encircled her wrist. Stephanie wondered what in the world this object was, and why the girl had it with her.

She didn't have long to find out. Melanie smiled. She had braces on her teeth, like many other people in this class. Then she said softly "You are probably all wondering why I have _this_ (she gestured to the object) with me." The class murmured in consent. "Well, this thing is a crutch. Now you've probably used crutches when you've broken your leg, but this is a different kind of crutch. This is a _forearm__ crutch_. I use it because I have cerebral palsy….are there any questions?" A boy in the front row raised his hand. "What's cerebral palsy?" he asked. Melanie smiled again.

"Cerebral palsy is a disability-_not a disease_-where something goes wrong in the brain and it has trouble controlling the muscles of a person's body. There are many types of cerebral palsy, or CP for short. The kind I have is called Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia. Basically, all that means is that my muscles are tight all the time, especially in my legs, which makes it harder for me to do stuff. Because of my poor balance, and also because I get tired easily, I use the crutch a lot." There was still a lot of confusion on the faces of the class, but Melanie had decided that enough was enough-for now. She said thank you and sat down in her seat. Class had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That day, after school, Stephanie waited for her dad to pick her up. She saw Melanie chasing after some of the popular girls. "Guys, wait up!" Melanie called. The other girls did not slow their pace. _Why won't they wait for her_? Stephanie thought angrily. Suddenly, Melanie tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. The popular girls turned around and laughed. "We don't need a useless cripple like you anyway!" one of them taunted.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Stephanie screeched as she ran to see if Melanie was okay. The popular girls just sneered. "Yeah, whatever, Tanner. C'mon girls!" "Seeya!" they said in unison. Then they sauntered off.

Stephanie reached Melanie, who was shakily picking herself up. "You okay?" Stephanie asked in concern. Melanie nodded. "Yeah." Then Stephanie noticed a bleeding cut on Melanie's knee. "Your knee is bleeding. The nurse will give you a band-aid. C'mon." On the way to the nurse, the two girls chatted.

"Thanks for helping me back there." Melanie said shyly. Stephanie smiled. "No problem. I think you're brave, actually." Melanie snorted. "_Me_? _Brave_? Are you kidding?" Steph shook her head solemnly. "No. You took a pretty hard fall back there. You didn't even say ow! I think that's really brave." Melanie blushed. "It's not so bad, actually. I've gotten used to falling." Stephanie looked at her new friend in amazement. "_Used_ to _falling_? How could anybody be _used_ to falling?" Melanie shrugged.

"Because of the CP, I fall a lot, because the CP affects my balance. I've been falling all my life. I guess…..it's easy to get used to something when you've been doing it all your life." They reached the nurse. Melanie sat on a chair with her crutch propped up next to her while the nurse fixed up her knee. All of a sudden, she started to cry.

"Melanie!" Steph said in alarm. "What's wrong?" The nurse just looked at them awkwardly and then decided to leave it to Stephanie. "Its just that…people make fun of me all the time like those girls did back there. And the worst part is, they promised me a ride home! How naive I was….I thought they actually wanted to be my friend. Why is CP so hard for people to accept? In layman's terms, I just walk a little funny-and my balance is bad. That's all! I wish that just for one day, I could be normal. Nobody would notice me, nobody would single me out, nobody would ask questions that I've heard a million times before!" Melanie sobbed. "Also I hate the way people treat me differently with and without the crutch. I _can_ walk without the crutch, its just harder for me. When I walk without the crutch, people treat me like a regular person, then freak out when I fall because they don't realize I'm used to it. When I walk _with _the crutch, people either fall all over me trying to be helpful, or avoid me completely, or even make fun of me like those popular girls did! But at the same time, the crutch is a signal to let people know that I _am_ handicapped and I _will_ need a little help."

"So there's pros and cons to each thing." Stephanie said gently. Melanie nodded. She wiped her eyes and stood up. "C'mon. My mom should be picking me up soon." Just then Stephanie had an idea. "Hey Melanie, want to come home with me for the afternoon?" Melanie grinned. "I would _love_ to! I just got to ask my mom first." Steph grinned. "And _I_ got to ask my dad. But I'm sure he'll say yes." Both girls headed out to the front of the school, where a line of cars was. The girls scanned the line. "Hey there's my dad's car!" Stephanie cried. "And there's my mom's car!" Melanie replied. Both girls dashed to their cars and quickly asked their parents if Melanie could come home with Stephanie. To their delight, they both said yes!

Danny greeted Melanie eagerly, then noticed her crutch. His face turned from delighted to meet Stephanie's new friend, to slight uncomfortable-ness because of Melanie's disability. "Uh…Melanie?" he started awkwardly. Melanie looked up from the backseat, where she had been chatting animatedly with Stephanie. "Yeah, Mr. Tanner?" Danny's gaze shifted towards the floor, where Melanie had put her crutch. "Do you want me to put that in the trunk for you?" Melanie smiled. "Oh, that's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'll just leave it here. Its too much of a hassle for me to wait for someone to get my crutch out of the trunk for me." Danny grinned. He liked this girl. "Alright, Melanie."

They reached the Tanner household in about five minutes. Melanie walked in with her crutch, and Uncle Jesse and Michelle, who were sitting at the table, looked up. Michelle's mouth dropped open and she stared at Melanie's crutch. A piece of bread that she had been chewing dropped from her open mouth. Stephanie and Melanie both knew what she was staring at, but neither of them said much. "Michelle, it's rude to stare." Stephanie admonished. Then she introduced her friend. "Guys, this is my new friend, Melanie. Melanie, this is my Uncle Jesse and my sister Michelle." Everybody mumbled a hello, then went back to what they had been doing.

"Now girls, I'll be right down here if you need me. Uncle Jesse's here, and so is my friend Joey, who lives with us. If you need any help just call one of us…" Danny started to ramble. Michelle and Stephanie stifled giggles and Uncle Jesse stood up and put a hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder. "Danny, you're embarrassing Stephanie! I think that will be enough." Danny blushed. He hadn't realized he had been rambling. "Ok, now you girls go upstairs and play in Stephanie's room." The two girls went upstairs. Stephanie had a feeling that Melanie was going to be a very good friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Class, listen up!" Ms. Dolan, Stephanie's English teacher commanded. (A/N I do not own Ms. Dolan, she was my S.S teacher last year). The class quieted down and looked at their teacher.

"Since you have been such a great class, and you are graduating this year, I have decided to take you on a field trip to an amusement park next week!" The whole class cheered. In eighth grade, you almost never got to go on field trips, and never fun ones like this. Stephanie quickly glanced at Melanie, whose face had gone from happiness, to slight embarrassment. Melanie came home with her after school, and Stephanie asked her about it.

"Hey, Mel, I saw you looked kinda embarrassed when Ms. Dolan announced the field trip. Wanna talk about it?" Melanie nodded. They were stretched out on Stephanie's bed doing their homework.

"Well, its just that….we'll be walking around a lot in the amusement park….for long walks, my mom makes me use a transport chair. It's like a manual wheelchair, but without the big wheels. Somebody has to push me in it. I'm afraid the kids will make fun of me." Stephanie understood.

"Aw, Mel, even if they _do_ make fun of you, I'll be there. And you _know_ I'd _never_ make fun of you." Stephanie said, wrapping her friend in a tight hug. A smile slowly made its way across Melanie's face. "You're right, Steph." They resumed their homework, but Melanie still had a shadow of doubt about the amusement park trip…

The field trip came all too soon. Once at the amusement park, Melanie slowly unfolded the transport chair. One of the boys noticed, and started making fun of it.

"Hey cripple girl! Is that a _stroller_ you have there? Waah-waah, Melanie's a _baby_! A little crippled _baby_!" The other boys soon joined in. Melanie's composure broke, and tears started rolling down her face.

"Its not a _stroller_ it's a _transport chair_! I use it because I have trouble walking! Get it!" Then she slipped her hand inside her crutch, and went running away from the class, sobbing as she went. Ms. Dolan hadn't noticed, she was too busy consulting with the student teacher. Stephanie turned angrily to the boys. She was so mad she couldn't even see straight. "Now look what you did to her!" She managed to say before she started running after Melanie.

A/N: Ooooh I love a good cliffhanger! Thanks for all the great reviews! If you havn't guessed by now, I am basing the character of Melanie on myself. I have mild CP, like Melanie, and I sometimes use one crutch (like Melanie). I'm going to be on vacation for a few days so I won't be able to write the next chapter. Sorry about the short chapter (again).


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Stephanie found Melanie leaning against a fence, sobbing. She tapped Melanie lightly on the shoulder.

"Melanie?" she said softly. Melanie wiped her eyes. "Steph. I knew you'd come looking for me." Stephanie put her arm around Melanie. She tried to think of what to say, but she couldn't think of anything to say. _What do I know?_ Stephanie thought. _I don't have CP, how can I possibly comfort Melanie about something that I haven't, and never will experience?_ Suddenly Stephanie spotted a tear-stained piece of paper clutched in Melanie's hand. "What's that?" she asked. Melanie cracked a smile.

"That's my poem that I just wrote a few minutes ago. I write a lot of poetry." Stephanie gently took the paper from Melanie's hand and read the poem. It went as follows:

A world

A different world

That no one understands

Some may call it alien

Some may call it strange

But to me its my world

A world with people who are different

No normal person can possibly understand

My world

Stephanie looked up in awe. "Melanie, this poem is really good! I didn't know you were a poet!" Melanie smiled, a full smile this time. "You really think so?" Stephanie hugged her friend. "I know so! C'mon. Lets get back to the class before Ms. Dolan starts looking for us." And so the two friends linked arms and headed back to the class.

A/N: I am so sorry about the short chapter again! But I have the next chapter all planned out in my head, so that should be up within a day or so. As you might have guessed, I write poetry too! I also write short stories. If anybody wants to read any of it you can email me at Kayla, thanks for calling me brave! I don't mind talking about my CP at all, in fact, I like it! I like educating people about CP and other disabilities, as illustrated by my website ( that's dedicated to helping people with disabilities. Please keep reviewing!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Well, here we are." Melanie said. Stephanie looked around. "Wow." Was all she could manage to say. They were standing in the middle of a sea of people. Melanie grinned. "Hectic, isn't it?" she asked. Stephanie nodded. "Its so awesome though. I can't wait until the events start."

The week before, Melanie had called Stephanie and asked if she wanted to come to the Golden Gate Games for the Physically Challenged with her. Melanie was going to be participating in the 40 meter track race, and the 25 meter breastroke swimming.

Melanie tugged on Stephanie's arm, pulling her out of her thoughts. "C'mon. I need to go register so I can get my T-shirt and stuff." Melanie led Stephanie to a small desk at which two or three people were sitting at. Melanie told the people her name and they gave her a backpack with Golden Gate Games For the Physically Challenged on it. Melanie and Stephanie moved aside and opened the backpack. Inside was a yellow T-shirt with Golden Gate For the Physically Challenged 2005 on it. Also inside was a blue sweat shirt with Golden Gate For the Physically Challenged 2005 on it.

"I have to wear one of these when I compete, except in swimming." Melanie explained. Then she reached her hand inside the bag and took out the last thing in it. It was a small purse with a string. Inside the purse were two slips of paper telling what events Melanie was doing.

They walked along the grass, where signs for different schools that brought their students to participate were set up. Some were all-handicapped schools, and some were regular schools that had some physically challenged students. Then Melanie took out a small book from her backpack. "According to the events book, the track events should start at eleven. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm going to be _running_ at eleven. I may run much later, depending on where my event is in the track event schedule. The swimming events are later, in the evening." Stephanie nodded. Her head was spinning from all this information.

They climbed up into the stands to watch the beginning of the track events. Stephanie's attention was immediately focused on a little girl in a walker who was going to be in the race. The flag used to start the race swished down and they were off. The girl in the walker moved so slowly. She finished the race last and very behind the others. But she still smiled and pumped her fist in the air. Stephanie stared at her in amazement. _Wow._ She thought. _I would have been upset because I came in last place. This girl is happy just because she finished_. Stephanie immediately resolved to be more like the girl in the walker, trying her best, but being happy with what she had.

For the next hour, Stephanie watched in awe as little people, people with missing limbs, and people with disabilities such as muscular dystrophy and of course, cerebral palsy, competed in track races. Then it was Melanie's turn. Stephanie wished her friend good luck. "Here." Melanie told her, slipping her hand out of her crutch. "Watch my crutch for me, I can run better without it. Stephanie watched as her friend made her way down to the track. In a few minutes the race began. Stephanie was amazed to see Melanie run like the wind. She easily came in first place. Stephanie hugged her friend as she came back into the stands.

"Melanie that was awesome!" Steph exclaimed. "Thanks!" Melanie said. "That was just my heat though. There's too many people doing one race, so they split it up into heats. I came in first in my heat, but that doesn't necessarily mean I got the gold medal. We'll have to check back with the people at the front desk later to see if I won any medals. The swimming events are later, so I think it would be boring to stick around. Can you get your dad or Joey or somebody to drive you back here around five thirty?" Stephanie nodded. "See you later." She said.

Danny dropped Stephanie off later. She met Melanie at the entrance. Melanie was dressed in a blue and purple bathing suit, and her hair was in a ponytail, covered with a blue bathing cap. She smiled when she saw Stephanie.

"Hey, Steph!" she said. "I just checked the schedule. My event is number three out of thirty-five events. So I'll be swimming soon. C'mon!" The girls made their way to the indoor pool. The air was filled with the smell of chloride.

A whistle was used to start the race, along with a flag for deaf swimmers. Melanie's event was 25 meters, one length of the pool. In no time at all it was time for her event.

The whistle blew and they were off. Stephanie saw Melanie push hard with her feet off the wall of the pool. She smoothly swam the length of the pool, then grabbed the other side when she was finished, breathing heavily. _It was hard to_ _tell from where I'm sitting_. Stephanie mused. _But it looks like she came in first; again!_ Melanie came over to Stephanie, drying herself with a towel. "You did _great_!" Stephanie told her. Melanie smiled. "Thanks. Hey, my friend Jason is doing wheelchair basketball over in the gym. You wanna go watch?" Stephanie agreed and they made their way to the gym, where people of all different physical disabilities were playing basketball. Melanie pointed. "There's Jason." She told Stephanie.

Stephanie peered closer at the boy Melanie was pointing to. He was in a power wheelchair. He had no arms and short legs-and he was playing basketball with his _feet_! Stephanie watched as Jason dribbled the ball with one foot, and steered his wheelchair towards the basketball hoop with the other foot. Once he was in position, he scooped up the ball with his foot and moved it down his leg with his chin. Then he quickly raised his leg so the ball flew in an arc towards the hoop. It went in with a satisfying _swish_. Stephanie turned to Melanie. "Wow! I can't believe he does all that with his _feet_!" Melanie grinned. "I know!" she said. "I never get tired of him doing that. He's better than most able-bodied basketball players I know!"

After about a half hour more of watching Jason, Melanie tapped Steph on the shoulder. "C'mon. The results of the races should be in by now." They went up to the front desk. Melanie told the people her name and what events she was in. They discovered she had won gold in both events! Melanie and Stephanie hugged each other as the lady handed over two shiny gold medals that said Golden Gate Games on them, both in regular printing and in Braille.

As they went out to where Danny was picking Stephanie up, Stephanie said "I can't believe these games! It's like….a revelation. _Nothing_ stops you guys. You guys never let your disability get in the way, and these games are proof of that! I've learned so much today." The horn of Danny car honked, and Stephanie said goodbye. As she got into the car, she saw Melanie waving goodbye, her figure silhouetted in the moonlight. Stephanie realized something as they drove away. Melanie had introduced her to a whole new world, a whole new culture…..a culture which she now was a part of.

A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too long! The Golden Gate Games were based on the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged, in which I participated in last year for the first time. I competed in the same events Melanie did and I did win gold medals in both of them! Yes, I do get teased sometimes, but not very often. Mostly I just get questions. Lots and lots of questions about my disability that are asked over and over again. It gets really annoying sometimes. But that shouldn't stop you guys from asking questions! I like it when you ask questions, and I like answering them. Its so cool that people want to learn more about CP and disabilities in general. Thanks for all the great reviews and keep reviewing! I'm not sure what's going to happen in the next chapter, so it might take me a few days to figure out what's going to happen, write it, and upload it. In the meantime, keep reading and reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A few days later, Melanie invited Stephanie over her house. Stephanie was so excited.

As the car stopped, Melanie came out to greet her friend. She looked really pretty in a denim skirt and a purple t-shirt with a butterfly on it. Stephanie grinned as she climbed out of the car.

"Hey Melanie!" she said, hugging her friend. She waved goodbye to Danny, and then the car pulled away. Melanie led Stephanie inside her small home.

The door led them into the kitchen. A short woman with long blond hair looked up from the sink, where she was washing vegetables. "You must be Stephanie. I'm Gina, Melanie's mom." Stephanie shook Gina's hand. "Pleased to meet you." She said.

They went into Melanie's room, which was decorated with leopard print things, and chatted for awhile. Then they went downstairs to the computer.

Melanie slid into the computer chair and took an extra chair out for Stephanie. Melanie logged on to the Internet and AOL Instant Messenger, and started typing in the address bar. Steph strained to see what she was typing.  she read. Melanie hit the Enter key and a brightly decorated webpage popped up on the screen. The headline read ABILITIES MELANIE: HELPING DISABLED PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. Below was an introduction.

"Hi! My name is Melanie and I am 13 years old. I have cerebral palsy Spastic Diplegia. I know what it's like to have a disability, so I want to help _you_. I will put disabilities up on this website for you to look at and to learn about them. Don't see the one you need? Drop me an email and I will gladly answer PERSONALLY. Thank you and please take a look at my guestbook." Even farther down the page were all kinds of disabilities, some rare, some common. Most of them Stephanie had never heard of.

Melanie then showed her the other pages of the website. The disabilities went on to a second page, there were at least five other different pages for things like disability news, disability articles, and another page dedicated to cerebral palsy. Stephanie turned in awe to Melanie, who was smiling. "Cool, isn't it?" she said. Stephanie nodded.

"Its awesome!" she answered. Melanie blushed. "Yeah, I've been working on it for over a year now. I've helped a lot of people with this site, just by giving them advice." Stephanie looked impressed. "Wow." Was all she could say. Then an idea dawned on her.

"Melanie…..you could change the world with this website! You could educate people about disabilities! You really could change the world!" Melanie's eyes lit up. "We could put on a presentation for the elementary school! That way kids will be educated about disabilities!" They high-fived. "Oh yeah!"

A/N: Sorry about not updating for so long! I had a bad case of writers block. Anyway, as those of you who have visited my website may have noticed, I am basing Melanie's website on my own. If you haven't visited my site yet, the URL is  Please sign the guestbook on the site and tell me what you think of it. Oh and btw I am thinking of changing the name of the story-and the summary. The new title will be Us Against the World. What do you guys think of the name? Anyway I'm kind of rambling on (just like Danny Tanner! Lol) so I'd better stop here. Thanks to all my loyal reviewers!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After that day, things just seemed to fall into place. Stephanie and Melanie had talked with the elementary school principal about doing a presentation about disabilities (mainly cerebral palsy) for the kids. The girls had named their presentation I'M A PERSON FIRST.

The day came all too fast.

Stephanie stood backstage with her back to the curtain, her heart pounding. She could feel cold sweat trickling down her face. "Melanie," she whispered. "Do you really want to go through with this?" Melanie nodded. "Yes." She replied steadily, though her legs were shaking so badly she could barely stand. Suddenly she doubled over with a cry of pain and gripped her leg below the knee. "Melanie!" Stephanie said, alarmed. Melanie looked up, her face pale. "It's just a muscle cramp." She whispered, a little breathless from the nerves. "I get them sometimes in my legs because my hamstring muscle is so tight." Stephanie vaguely remembered from health class that the hamstring muscle was a muscle in the leg, stretching from the thigh to the knee, and helping to flex the knee. _So that's why Melanie walks with her legs so bent_. Stephanie thought.

Melanie plopped down in a chair and started massaging her leg. Suddenly they heard the school principal saying "And now here's Stephanie Tanner and Melanie Finegold with their very special presentation."

Stephanie grabbed Melanie's arm. "Mel! That's our cue!" she hissed, helping Melanie to her feet. The two girls looked at each other with nervous eyes, each saying silently _This is it_. Then the curtain rose, and Stephanie began the presentation.

"You might know someone with a disability." Stephanie began. "That person may be a friend, a classmate, or even an adult that you know. But when you think of someone with a disability, what do you _really_ think of? Do you think of the person, his or her personality? Or do you think of the fact they walk with crutches, or use a wheelchair? A person with a disability is just someone that's different from you. They like the same stuff, do mostly the same things, and have the same concerns.

That's why I've teamed up with one of my best friends, Melanie Finegold. Melanie has cerebral palsy, a type of physical disability, and she walks with one crutch. But Melanie has thoughts and feelings, and that's why I think of when I think of her. A person with a disability is a _person_ first and someone with a disability second. That's why Melanie and I have named this presentation A PERSON FIRST!"

Melanie came out, and the audience applauded. Over the next hour and a half, Stephanie and Melanie explained many things about people with disabilities, and even had a hands-on part where volunteers got to come up to the stage and try out manual wheelchairs and try on leg braces. They also explained a bit about how to treat a person with a disability.

"Don't stare at a person who uses adaptive equipment like a wheelchair or crutches." They told the kids. "It's rude. One of the reasons it _is_ rude is because for a person with a disability, their equipment is like a part of them. It would be like somebody staring at you because you have freckles, or you have green eyes. It's just not right." Soon the presentation was over. Stephanie and Melanie watched as the kids filed out and hoped that they had taught those kids _something_ with their presentation. The two girls hugged. "We did it!" They said.

A/N: Hey everyone! This chapter is basically out of my own imagination. I _have_ thought about doing a presentation for the elementary school kids, but I haven't actually done it. PLEASE keep reviewing! Your reviews inspire me to write the next chapter, even if I don't really feel like writing that day. Special thanks to Kayla for all the great tips!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The door slammed and Michelle came through the door. Stephanie looked up from the table, where she was doing her homework.

"Hey, Michelle. How'd you like the presentation that Melanie and I did today?" Michelle grinned. "It was awesome! I learned so much. Teddy and Denise thought it was cool, too." Stephanie beamed. "Thanks Michelle!"

The next day in school, Stephanie was at her locker when she heard someone calling her name. "Steph! Stephanie! Oh my god you'll never guess what I'm soooo happy about!" Melanie ran toward her, losing her balance as her foot scuffed the floor. Stephanie caught her just as she was about to hit the floor, and helped her regain her balance.

"There. Now will you tell me before I die of curiosity?" Stephanie said. Melanie's eyes sparkled. "OK, here goes. I am going to be in the Neighborhood Heroes section of Newsday!" Stephanie gasped. Neighborhood Heroes was a weekly column in Newsday where people were featured for their community service. "Mel, that's great!" Melanie grinned. "Yeah, I know! And here's something that'll make you even happier! You're going to be in it too!"

Stephanie nearly fell over. "Seriously!" Melanie nodded excitedly. "The editor for the column is the father of one of the kids that saw our presentation! He says we'd be _perfect_ for the column." Melanie wore a far-off look in her eyes as she imagined the possibilities. "Think of what this could bring for us…."

The next few weeks were a blur of Neighborhood Hero-related things. Stephanie and Melanie went to a photo shoot, where a professional photographer took their picture for the article. Then, one Sunday about two weeks later, Stephanie opened her newspaper to see a full page article in the Neighborhood Hero column-with a color photo of her and Melanie with their arms around each other. Stephanie shrieked.

"Dad, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Becky, Joey, everybody! The article's in the paper!" Stephanie's whole family crowded around to see it. They all commented on how nice it was. Then, Stephanie got to school to see Melanie standing at her locker. They both started talking at once. "Did you see it? Oh my god that was so COOL!" A teacher passing by glared at them but neither of them cared. Stephanie grinned so hard her face hurt. She couldn't think of anything nicer or cooler then being in the paper with your best friend.

A/N: Oh my god I am sooo sorry for not updating for so long! Its just school….does anyone else think 8th grade is the pits? Anyway, Neighborhood Heroes is based on the column in Newsday called Everyday Hero. And yes, I was an Everyday Hero a couple months ago for my website. Seriously, its sooo cool being in the paper. Anyway I probably won't have as much time to update what with school and everything-also I'm writing a Star Trek fanfic and also a story on FictionPress. So, yeah. I'm a busy girl. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Heyyy my little ladybug!" Danny said with a big smile on his face as he came home from work. His middle daughter looked at him warily.

"Dad….what do you want?" Stephanie asked.

Danny's face fell a bit. "Is it really that obvious?" he asked. Stephanie nodded.

"Yes. It is." Danny regained the huge grin on his face and shrugged.

"Oh. Oh well. Anyway, how would you and Melanie like to be on Wake Up! San Francisco, tomorrow?" Stephanie gasped.

"Seriously, Dad?" Danny nodded. Stephanie let out an excited shriek.

"Whoopee! Oh my god I have to call Melanie!" She dashed upstairs and her fingers flew as she dialed Melanie's number. Melanie answered the phone.

"Steph?"

"Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh my god Mel you're never ever in the whole entire world in the whole entire _universe_ in the whole entire….."

"Steph. Get to the point."

"Okay sorry. Anyway you and me are going to be on Dad and Aunt Becky's show tomorrow!" Melanie squealed.

"You're kidding!"

"No!"

They both shrieked and squealed until their voices were hoarse. Then they both screamed together.

"WE'RE GOING TO BE ON TV!"

The next day, Danny and Becky sat on the set of Wake Up! San Francisco. Stephanie and Melanie watched excitedly backstage, waiting for their cue.

The camera guy walked backwards as he counted down.

"And we're on in five, four, three, two, one!" The traditional _Waaake up!_ Played and Danny and Becky started the show.

"Hi, I'm Danny Tanner."

"And I'm Rebecca Donaldson."

"And this is a special edition of Wake Up! San Francisco. My sweet little daughter Stephanie and her friend Melanie are going to be on the show today talking about their efforts to help people with disabilities. You know," Danny continued, laughing, "Stephanie was such a cute little baby….I think I have some pictures here in my wallet…..Oh here's one of Stephanie as a Honeybee! And here's one….." Becky put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Danny. Besides the fact that you are publicly humiliating your daughter, this is only an hour's show." Danny blushed.

"Oh yeah. Right."

"Anyway," Becky continued. "Let's bring out the guests! Come on out Stephanie, Melanie." The two girls walked out, Stephanie with a new hairstyle that D.J had done for her just that morning. Becky smiled. She was so proud of her niece.

"So, girls, what got you into helping people with disabilities?" Melanie answered first.

"Well, as you can see by my crutch, I have mild cerebral palsy. Over the years I've learned so much about my disability and other disabilities too. I hated it that someone might be looking for that very information-and I had it! So I started my website ( so I could share that information with people who needed it, and also to educate non-disabled people more about disabilities so people with disabilities would be treated better." Stephanie took over.

"When I met Melanie, she showed her website and that got _me_ into the disability effort. Now I see why she loves helping people so much."

Becky and Danny took turns interviewing the girls after that. One particular question was aimed at Melanie.

"Melanie." Becky said. "If there was a cure for cerebral palsy, right here, right now, _would you take it_?" Melanie shook her head vehemently.

"No. No way." The audience gasped, then looked a bit confused. How could someone not want a cure for their disability? But then Melanie explained her reasoning.

"Having CP has influenced me in so many ways. It's influenced not only my physical being, but my personality and my philosophies as well. Taking a cure would be like taking away part of my personality." Becky and Danny's eyes both widened. They hadn't realized quite so _smart_ this girl was!

Before they knew it, it was the end of the show. Danny wrapped up the show by saying, "Stephanie Tanner and Melanie Finegold. Two very special girls working for a very special cause." And then it was all over.

A/N: Again, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm now working on a Danny Phantom fic called Ghost Contradictions. I haven't uploaded it yet though, but I'll let you know if I have by the time I finish the next chapter. Anyway I'd like to thank several of my reviewers: Me (yes that's someone's pen name), for giving me the inspiration for this chapter, and I did try to take into account in this chapter that every time someone new speaks, it's a new paragraph; Kayla Tsukino for giving me all that great information on adaptive equipment when I talked to you online; and also ALL MY REVIEWERS. Thanks so much for such an enthusiastic response to my story! KEEP REVIEWING!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next day, Stephanie and Melanie walked through the halls, laughing and talking about the show the day before. Usually, everybody was happy in the morning, laughing and chatting before the bell rang. Only one person was not happy as she leaned against the row of lockers, waiting for someone who _used_ to be her best friend.

Melanie went off to her locker and Stephanie went off to hers. When she got to her locker, though, she found Gia, looking furious, arms folded across her chest.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Hey Gia. What's wrong?" Gia's eyes flashed.

"_What_ are you doing with…that…that _freak_?" Gia said in a deadly whisper. Stephanie's eyebrows arched even more.

"Who?" Gia's eyes flashed even more. Stephanie had never seen her this angry.

"_Melanie_!" Gia spat the word out like it was poison.

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "Melanie is _not_ a freak! I can't believe you would _say_ something like that!"

"Steph, _come_ _on_. You _know_ she's a freak. She's a _useless_, _crippled_, good for nothing _little freak_! She doesn't deserve to live on this planet!"

Stephanie opened her mouth to retaliate, but just then Melanie, who had been listening in pure disbelief and horror, rushed by, her crutch tapping furiously on the tiled floor. And from what Stephanie could see before the bathroom door closed with a bang behind Melanie, she was crying.

"Well you know what, Gia?" Stephanie yelled furiously. The whole hall was now staring at them. "I don't think _you_ really deserve to live on this planet either!" She ran after Melanie, a mixture of anger and concern almost blinding her. "And you don't deserve to call me Steph, either!" she yelled over her shoulder.

Stephanie let the bathroom door close behind her. She could hear muffled sobbing coming from behind one of the stall doors.

"Mel?" she called softly, knocking lightly on the stall door. "Is that you?' Stephanie could hear a long, shuddering sob. "Steph. You can come in. I unlocked the door."

Stephanie stepped in to find Melanie sitting on the toilet, tears streaming down her face. Her crutch had been thrown down beside her and was now lying on the floor.

"Oh Steph…do you think that's what everybody else thinks about me? Th-that I'm a…useless freak? If that's what everybody thinks about me…" At this point Melanie started sobbing too hard to speak. Stephanie could just make out the words she said through her tears. "…then there's no point in living."

"Mel, you _know_ that's not true. You _know_ that there's at least one person in this school who cares about you." Melanie sniffled. "Oh, really? Who?"

Stephanie put a comforting arm around Melanie's shoulder. "Me."

Melanie was so surprised, her sobbing subsided a little. "Really? You really and truly care about me?"

"Yes. I do." Stephanie said firmly.

Melanie slowly turned her tearstained face to Stephanie. "Wow. This is so weird. I've never had anyone really and truly care about me before. Everyone just automatically thinks like Gia."

"And you know what you can do? You can persevere. You will change the world someday, Mel. I know you will. And once you're a famous peacemaker, poet and disability activist, Gia and all the other people who've been mean to you will be very sorry that they ever _thought_ about being mean to you.

Melanie sniffled again, but a smile was slowly spreading across her face. "You're right."

Stephanie cheered. "All right, Melanie! Now let's go out and show the world just what you, Melanie Finegold, can do!" They high-fived and Melanie walked out of the bathroom proud and tall, ready to face the world.

A/N: I am SO sorry I haven't updated in, like, months. I've been working on my other two stories and I had MAJOR, MAJOR writer's block with this story. But I would like to give a very special thanks to Kayla Tsukino for giving me the idea for this chapter and taking away my writers block! Also thanks to Guardiangirl1 for giving me another idea, even though I didn't use it. And please, keep reviewing!


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